Following the team with a unique perspective on all things Phillies. Email me: PhilliesPhollowers@comcast.net – Peace, Love & Baseball – Jenn

Results tagged ‘ Mitch Williams ’

After getting destroyed by the Indians earlier this week, the Phillies have won their first 2 games against the lowly Marlins. Both Kyle Kendrick and rookie Jonathan Pettibone pitched well and the offense even managed to score some runs. Ryan Howard and Domonic Brown hit home runs in each of the 2 games.

But keep in mind, all of this was against the smelly Fish, who did not have their best little fishy, Giancarlo Stanton, in the line-up. With an 8-22 record, this team sucks. So please excuse me for not being too impressed with these wins. The Phillies beat bad teams in April as well, but they did not beat too many good ones. So if they finish out this series strong and then give the San Francisco Giants a big-boy spanking, then I might be a little more excited.

What was sort of exciting this week was reading all the stories about the verbal spat between Phillies pitching coach and former-Phil’s closer turned baseball analyst, Mitch Williams. Apparently, Rich Dubee yelled at Williams in Spring Training for trying to interfere with his pitchers. Then this week, Mitchy-Poo went off via the WIP radio show on Dubee for not helping Phillies pitchers fix their mechanical issues.

There is nothing like a good dose of man-on-man hissy-fit drama early in the morning…yum!

But the best part was yet to come…When asked about Mitchy-Poo’s comments, Roy Halladay came to Dubee’s rescue like a knight on a white horse. A normally reserved Halladay called Williams, “the mechanical wonder,” and said he was “completely out of line.” Doc even demanded that Williams “make amends” for his criticism of Dubee.

And in his usual no-nonsense/smarty-pants style, Dubee suggested that Williams “submit a resume” if he wants to be a pitching coach. Oh my.

I’ll say this about it, having spoken to both guys in the past on a variety of occasions. Mitchy-Poo is a guy who, right or wrong, always speaks his mind. I have a great deal of respect for him in that regard. He speaks from his heart. Dubee is very similar; he does not take crap from anyone and will always tell it like it is.

Once in the bullpen at a charity event, Dubee was showing me how to toss a fastball. I quickly realized I had forgotten to take a ring off that I was wearing. In order not to remove my glove and be quick about it, I pulled the ring off with my mouth, spit it into my palm and shoved in my pocket. Dubee folded his arms, grinned and said, “What, you can’t toss a pitch with that rock on your finger?” He then made a sarcastic comment about me trying to throw a spitball. After that, I was videotaping him working in the pen with someone else, and he asked me if I was going to use that video against him later.

Dubee loves a good joke; he is a naturally funny guy, whether he is trying to be or not. And he treats everyone the same, which I love about him. I did not want to be babied in the bullpen just because I was a girl and I was not disappointed.

So maybe Williams should not be butting in with Phillies pitching, but then again, he is just doing his job as an analyst. And Dubee is doing his job, protecting his players. Both are good guys with good hearts.

In that case, who is right and who is wrong is sort of a mute point. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, I do think this little drama might inadvertently be a very good thing for the Phillies. If Phillies pitchers want to defend the honor of their pitching coach, there is only one way to do that effectively…win!

Phillies beat writer Todd Zolecki reported that Chase Utley answered many questions about his injured left knee yesterday. He spoke about a new rehab program and stated that he would play again this year, although no time table was given.

Utley also stated that last year, it was the right knee that bothered him and this year it is the left. He is optimistic because the right knee feels fine now and the new program seems to be working on the left knee. But does this not beg the obvious question that no one has asked him? When the right knee was injured, why did he change his routine/program on only the right side?

Here is the quote from Utley regarding the two knees: “So we made some changes last year to my right knee. It worked because it feels strong. It feels good. Now I have to make similar changes to my left knee.”

Why was the program not changed for BOTH knees back when this issue originally started flaring up? What affects the right knee can also affect the left, especially when it involves impact movements like running and jumping. Still, no precautions were taken. Why? And who in the world was giving Utley training advice at that time? Because whoever neglected to state the obvious may have just cost the Phillies another half a season with no All-Star second baseman.

This could also cut Utley’s career short if the problem persists. Right now, he believes it will all work out. But a few years down the road, who knows?

Mad Dog

As you may have heard, former Philles closer Ryan Madson needs Tommy John surgery, ending his 2012 season with the Reds before it even began. Worse than that, super agent Scott Boras managed to dig up only a 1-year deal for Madson which means he may have to beg for a 2013 contract after not having pitched for all of 2012.

The Wild Thing, former closer Mitch Williams, wrote an excellent article about Madson’s free agency this off-season. Williams discovered that Boras turned down a 3-year, $33 million counteroffer from the Phillies without ever consulting Madson, who did wish to return to Philly. Instead, Madson got stuck with a meager 1-year deal with the Reds.

Williams then posed the question, “What if he gets injured.” Well the Wild Thing’s crystal ball was correct. Madson got hurt and now his career may be in jeopardy.

Mad Dog Madson should be foaming at the mouth over the way his agent handled his free agency. If I were Madson, Boras would be fired. Then again, I guess the Phillies can thank Boras for doing such a crappy job. Had he not totally sucked, the Phillies would be paying Madson $11 million this year to do nothing except have surgery. Nicely done, Boras.

But my favorite Dykstra moment comes when he blasts Mitch Williams, whom he says he hates.Why?Because, according to Dykstra, “He lost the World Series,” and put Dykstra through “torture” as a result.So, the rest of the team had nothing to do with losing the World Series?

Throughout most of the year, Roy Halladay has not gotten a great deal of run support from his teammates.Today, he had a rough time against the Mets, allowing 2 runs in the first inning alone to put the Phillies in a quick hole.Halladay seemed off but he did pitch 7 innings; on 9 hits and a walk, he allowed 5 runs while striking out 10 batters.

But the offense did not let Halladay down this time.After a Jimmy Rollins 1-out double in the 3rd, the Mets short stop Jose Reyes committed a fielding error that allowed Placido Polanco to reach base.From there, a rally was born.Remember yesterday when mascot J-Roll Smurf put the voodoo hex on Reyes?Coincidence?Well, who cares…it worked, whatever it was.

The Reyes error sent the Phillies on a huge tear; Ross Gload singled, which scored Rollins.And then the super-hot Raul Ibanez extended his hitting streak to a career high 16 games with a 3-run homer.Later, a Brian Schneider single scored Jayson Werth for the 5th run of the inning.Werth had also homered the inning before.Here are a few shots of the home runs and subsequent celebrations:

The effort was all around for the Phillies.Not only did the offense score 6 runs for Halladay, they played solid defense as well.Halladay kept running into trouble, but some good pitches, a double play and a few diving grabs helped him out.Gload especially gave a great effort at first base filling in for the injured Ryan Howard.Here are a few more action shots from the game:

Another huge positive to come out of this 6-5 win was the back-end of the bullpen.Ryan Madson played “Bridge to Lidge” in his former excellent fashion, shutting the Mets down in the 8th.And then Brad Lidge, with his usual tense moments, did finally get the save with only a 1-run lead.Both pitchers have been up and down so it was nice to see the pen work the way it is actually supposed to in a tight game.

There was positive news before the game as well.Both Chase Utley and Shane Victorino were out running around and playing Frisbee on the field.This is meant to be a conditioning exercise, and Utley was quite serious about getting the job done.

Victorino, on the other hand, while still getting the job done, looked more like a kid playing in his back yard than a professional ballplayer.He even raced someone’s kid at one point.Nothing wrong with a little fun ;o)Victorino was running very well and it looks like he may be activated soon.He will start a rehab assignment on Tuesday and may be back by next weekend.

Also before the game, the Alumni Batting Challenge took place with 3 teams; Kevin Stocker with Ricky Bottalico, Jim Eisenreich with Mitch Williams and Darren Daulton with Dickie Noles.Stocker and Bottalico took home the prize. You can see many photos from the even in the full game Photo Album.

The Phillies have a day off tomorrow before the Dodgers come to town.Kyle Kendrick will start Tuesday’s game which is scheduled for 7:05pm.

The match-up of Cole Hamels and Johan Santana tonight had potential to be a very tight pitcher’s duel.And that is exactly what happened; the two pitchers were fairly even through 6 innings.Santana did not allow a hit until Placido Polanco broke through in the 6th with a single.Hamels scattered 6 hits but also struck out 11 batters.The only scar on the line for Hamels was a solo homer from Jeff Francoeur in the 7th.

Hamels reached 99 pitches by the end of 7 and was pinch hit for in the bottom of the inning.Chad Durbin pitched the 8th and had a very scary outing.With the bases loaded, he nearly walked a run home.Luckily for the Phils, Francoeur was done with the home run hitting.He went fishing for a high fastball that would have been ball four and struck out.

With the score still 1-0 in favor of the Mets going into the bottom of the 8th.The Phils had an exciting inning with a few singles and a walk.But with the bases loaded and 2 outs, Ross Gload grounded out after a very good battle at the plate.

In the 9th inning, the Phillies still could not get anything done.They ended up with only 5 hits in the loss, went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left 9 men on base.While it was a disappointing loss, overall it was a good game because of the pitching.Hamels was outstanding so it hurts to see him not get the win…again.Poor guy.

The final game with the Mets is tomorrow afternoon at 1:35pm.Roy Halladay will pitch :O)The Alumni BattingChallenge will also take place before the game with 3 teams; Kevin Stocker with Ricky Bottalico, Jim Eisenreich with Mitch Williams and Darren Daulton with Dickie Noles.

I will return with photos from both the pre-game event and the Halladay domination of the Mets – yes, I fully expect Halladay domination.J-Roll Smurf, our official Phillies Phollowers mascot, says it will be so.He is in charge of the voodoo and I believe him.J-Roll Smurf has been practicing his voodoo bat attack all day long, so expect results.Go Phillies!

The post-game shaving cream pie to the face has become a celebratory Phillies tradition over the years.One reader wanted to know where it all began.In my own experiences, I have been able to trace the practice as far back as 1993 where it happened on a semi-regular basis.Here are a few shots from 1993 where Mitch Williams pied Andy Ashby.You can see the pie in mid-air as Ashby tried to avoid contact during his post-game interview with Harry Kalas:

Usually when a player gets a game winning, walk-off hit, they can expect to get pied.However, sometimes this prank is also carried out following any outstanding performance.For instance, on June 2, 2002, pitcher Robert Person hit two home runs in a game against the Expos, the first of which was a Grand Slam.The result?7 RBI for Person, a win for the Phils and yes, a pie to the face.

In the 1990’s, the pie incidents were sort of random.But when Tomas Perez joined the Phillies in 2000, he became the “official” Pie Guy and for the next 6 years, he did not miss a beat.Perez pied everyone.And his teammates loved him; Perez was riot in the clubhouse, keeping things loose and fun.And for me personally, Perez was the nicest, most approachable player I had ever met.I always stood in the same place before games and Perez took notice.All I had to do was wave at him, and he would run right over.We spoke before many games and I got countless autographs from him.

The day the Phillies released him in 2006, we had a conversation about his tenure in Philly during batting practice.I told him how glad everyone was that he was still with the team and that his smile always brightened my day.Literally, ½ an hour later, he was released.:O(

Not only was I devastated, but so were Perez’s teammates.Ryan Howard said after the game, “I will miss the pies in the face.”And catcher Mike Lieberthal, another frequent pie’ing victim, added, “He is one of my favorite players I ever played with.He was not only a good player, but he kept everybody loose and is one of the best personalities I have ever been around.”

With the departure of Perez, the torch was passed to Shane Victorino who became the new Pie Guy and has been basically in charge of the prank ever since.Although, Jimmy Rollins, Greg Dobbs and others have been known to help out on occassion.And these days, no one is safe from the Pie Guy:

In fact, some pie pranks are not even reserved for the playing field.This pie attack occurred during an interview with Brett Myers and Kyle Kendrick on NBC’s Today Show.The attack starts at about 2 minutes, 45 seconds into the video:

There are some varying opinions on the pie pranks.Some players think it is funny; some are not so thrilled about it.As for the fans, I have heard everything from how funny it is to how stupid it is.One fan told me it is annoying because it ruins the post-game interview.Others wonder if it could be dangerous.And yet others look forward to it and find it entertaining.What do you think?Feel free to comment below.

What I can tell you is this; the Pie Guy is a Phillies tradition that does not appear to be going away any time soon.

Shakespeare once posed the question, “What’s in a name?”In baseball, a player’s nickname can stick like glue, whether they like it or not.Here is a rundown of some of the Phillies player’s nicknames, past and present.

2010 Phillies Players

Brad “Light’s Out” Lidge

Ben Francisco – Scoots

Brian Schneider – Hoops

Carlos Ruiz – Chooch

Charlie Manuel – Chuck

Chase “The Man” Utley or The Model (given to him by J-Roll) or Chutley

Since the game against our old pal Randy Wolf and the Dodgers was awful, let’s begin today with something fun!Here is a recap of the Baseball 101 event for women held before the game yesterday:

This now twice annual event included a behind the scenes tour, coaching from the Phillies staff, many guest speakers and an appearance by Jayson Werth.Werth walked into the room and you would have thought it was Tom Cruise, judging from the reaction.Women screamed and flash bulbs popped.Werth talked openly to the group of 140 female fans and was surprisingly comical.He talked about stealing home in Tuesday nights’ win over the Dodgers (turns out, it was all his idea and the 3rd base coach had no clue what was happening); Werth also gave us an overview of what it is like to travel as a Major League player, how he felt at the World Series parade, his baseball heritage and what it means to play as a team.He was very impressive.

We also heard from Phillies broadcaster, Chris Wheeler, who walked us though his embarrassment of the strange dance he did behind Harry Kalas as he called the World Series win.Wheels said he had no idea that he had actually looked that nuts until an hour and half later when he saw the replay.Mitch Williams was also exceptionally informative, and very, very funny.Williams should be a stand-up comic.He had the room almost in tears as he discussed how we have not lived until we’ve seen John Kruk naked, how he (Williams) does not wear pants during his broadcasts and a variety of other topics.And Larry Andersen, another former player and current broadcaster, was equally entertaining with his tales of Kalas and honest expressions of dislike for umpires.

Below, you will see Williams, Andersen and a very surreal moment as well; Tom Burgoyne, friend of the Phanatic, with the Phanatic!A true “out of body” experience :O)

At one point, all the women broke into teams and travelled around the stadium, with stops in the bullpen, the batting cages and on the field to run the bases and work on throwing and fielding with the Phillies coaching staff.Sam Perlozzo and Davey Lopes directed us on the field; Milt Thompson and Pete Mackanin let us swing away in the cages; and Rich Dubee and Mick Billmeyer let us throw pitches off the mound in the pen.They gave us the inside scoop, just like we were real major leaguers.My favorite coach comment of the day came when I asked what changes we could expect to see when JC Romero returns to the team.Billmeyer chimed in immediately with, “We will get better!”Well said :O)

And a first for Baseball 101 was the behind the scenes tour of the player areas:the clubhouse, their kitchen and even the training room.I can tell you several things from this experience.First, Chad Durbin has a sweet tooth and likes crossword puzzles; some players seem to have a shoe fetish; Ryan Howard uses the same baby powder that I do; and doing laundry for the Phillies is a very interesting job!Here are a few sights from the clubhouse:

I took tons of photos and was surprised by a few things I saw just “hanging” around.I heard myself mutter as I peered into lockers, “Is that…(you fill in the blank)???Oh my, yes it is.”Use your imagination.Nothing out of the baseball realm, but still a bit weird to see up close ;O)

So after the all-day event which began at 8:45am, we sat down to watch the game which started at 7:05pm.Sleepy, but it was worth it.We had a good 3 innings and Jamie Moyer looked like he may knock out every Dodger that faced him, but come the 4th inning, the bottom dropped out and it all went downhill from there.7 runs allowed in only 4 1/3 innings and Moyer still cannot find his 250th win.However, I think that was the least of his worries last night.With the struggles in this starting rotation, I would not be surprised to see some changes very soon.Charlie Manuel has announced that JA Happ will start one of the games of the double-header on Saturday against the Nats; no word on what will happen after that.Happ may be pitching that day for his chance to win a spot in the rotation.

On again to more pleasant things:Here is the Photo Albumfrom my day in baseball-land which includes the photos in this post and more.And don’t forget to tune in to the game this afternoon, which is an early start of 1:05pm to finish the Dodgers series.Hoping the Phillies can pull out a winning series!

After yesterday’s 4-1 loss to the Braves, the Phillies have now lost 4 straight Opening Day games, three of which have been behind Brett Myers.The good news is, they lost last year too and still won the World Series.The slightly bad news is, it appears our left-handed heavy line-up may need some shaking up.Get to that in a moment; first, some pictures from the Opening Day pomp and circumstance which include the pre-game line-up; cake in the Diamond Club; Mitch Williams joking around with Shane Victorino; Ryan Howard doing an interview; Chase Utley warming up:

More pre-game excitement:The entire Phillies team actually entered the stadium from OUTSIDE the ballpark, walking in behind a high school marching band.They wandered through Ashburn Alley above the centerfield seats, walked through the outfield seating section and down a set of very scary looking metal steps while high-fiving the fans they passed by; they were then greeted by more fans on the field, draped along a red carpet leading to mid-field.The photos below show the Army opening up the American flag; the decent to the outfield stairs; the raising of the World Series flag; the red carpet of fans; Matt Stairs poking himself in the belly and laughing (I guess he thinks he is the Pillsbury DoughBoy?); and finally, Army paratroopers entering the stadium with the game ball.Fun note – the first parachute guy missed the stadium and landed somewhere in the parking lot – oops!

Before the game, I spoke with our friend Todd Zolecki from The Zo Zone, who was happy to be back in Philly and getting on with the season, as we all are.I also spoke to Larry Shenk from Phillies Insiderwho was equally excited to get the season started.To the right is a photo of me with Todd; I also took a picture with Larry, which I cropped myself out of and Photo-shopped him next to me and Todd.Larry looks great, but I had a really dumb look on my face; besides, we don’t need any more pictures of me ;O)

Anyway, the game did get off to a somewhat ominous start when, after the raising of the World Series flag, manager Charlie Manuel began walking down the aisle towards the outfield steps to make his way onto the field behind the players.But in a strange turn of events, just as Manuel neared the wobbly looking metal stair case, the CBP employees pulled the steps up from the field!Yes, they took the stairs right out from under him, leaving him stranded amongst hundreds of excited fans.Poor Charlie had to hike it back up the aisle and figure out another way onto the field.A bad omen for the day, perhaps?

The game began with Brett Myers giving up 3 home runs in the first 2 innings for 4 runs total.Myers has become notorious for his early inning struggles, but after those 2 innings, he settled in and pitched 4 more scoreless innings.However, Derek Lowe for the Braves was lights out all night, with the Phillies getting only 2 hits off him.Lowe had a shut-out going into the 9th inning, but much to everyone’s surprise, he was not sent out to finish the game.

Instead, lefty Mike Gonzalez took over in the 9th and quickly got into trouble against our few right-handed bats.With 1 out, pinch-hitter Eric Bruntlett lined a ball down the left field line for a double and then Jayson Werth sent him home with a single.And here come the lefties:Utley managed to draw a walk, but then Ryan Howard got caught looking at strike 3 and newcomer, Raul Ibanez went down swinging; game over.The left handed bats killed the rally, which is the nightmare Philly fans have been envisioning all off-season.But again, it is only one game; no need to panic or even be slightly bummed out about it.Lowe pitched an amazing game and sometimes when that happens, there is not much anyone can do.

So, Phillies fans are left with the following questions to ponder:Will this mostly left-handed line-up figure out how to get it done?Is Ibanez going to have a rough time endearing himself to the fans after starting out 0-4 on Opening Day?Will Myers solve the early innings puzzle?Well, we have 161 more games to figure that all out.Just chill…:O)

In the meantime, more photos!Below, you will see Myers pitching; Ibanez catching a fly ball; Utley in mid-air after a quick throw to first; the Phanatic and friend as a cheer squad; and a close-up of the fancy gold-trimmed Opening Day jerseys which you can buy at the park for a who*pping $240 (excuse the * edit as this program thinks it is a bad word)!!

I have put together a photo albumwith these and many more shots from Opening Day which you can see HERE.Hope you like them :O)One more for you though; This is my Photo of the Day.It is Jayson Werth, apparently, kissing a tree frog; taken from the Phillies Phanavision. :O)

The Phillies have the day off today to recuperate from another disappointing Opening Day and then it is back at it with the Braves on Tuesday night; game time is 7:05pm.

It has always been a tradition in baseball to assign players a nickname.Whether that be a descriptive one, a play on words, or just plain weird, most guys seem to get one at some point that winds up sticking with them.I have compiled a list of nicknames for the 2008 Phillies that I could find and then other Phillies from years past.I tried to avoid any media-given names and just stick to the stuff the players use amongst themselves.I also put years by some of the older or more obscure player names.Hope you enjoy it…have a Happy Holiday!!!

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